"I've been dating too many rich people, right? How about
dinner and a movie?" Max smiled.

I
thought about it.

"I know
you're still hurting after what happened with Richard, but..."

"You're
on." I said quickly, "I need to have some fun."

Chapter 104: Claudine Renko

"Olivia
is back?" I asked, looking at the computer screen.

"Yeah,
and she's up to something." Connor said, pointing to the screen, "Something
bad."

"I say
we cut her off at the knees." I said, standing behind him.

"The
problem is that we have no idea where to find her." Max said.

I
rubbed my head, "Maybe she'll troll the playground." I chuckled.

"I
think this is a bit more serious." Connor said, "She's totally insane."

"Oh,
come on! She's all stupid and stuff." I said, "Besides, we've got good old
ingenuity."

"Look,
I know this is like an afterglow thing, but can you please be more helpful?"
Connor growled, "This is why we never let you have sex."

"Is
that why?" I smirked.

"So,
she's back. Big whoop. We all came back." Raiden frowned, "I mean, what makes her so special?"

"She's
insane." Max said quickly.

"And very vocal about it." Connor frowned.

"She
robbed a bank; I think that puts her at the top of the list." Melissa said,
nursing her black eye.

"How'd
she happen to rob a bank?" Raiden asked.

"She
transformed into a panther and while everyone evacuated and waited for animal
control, she stole as much money as she could carry and just walked out under
the guise of a lost worker." Connor frowned, "That's the footage I've showed
you."

I
watched more of the footage. She danced through the vault, taking as much as
she could. With everything she was doing, she still seemed carefree. She didn't
seem to have a care in the world.

"You
okay?" Max asked.

I
nodded, "She's psycho. Normally people would be off licking their wounds, but
she...she's happy." I frowned.

"Can't
we just wait for another team?" Raiden asked, "I mean, we've got more pressing issues."

"Like
the alternate, which by the way is totally alternate as of our whole trip to
the future, future? Yeah, Sinister is going to experiment us into dystopia." I
said listlessly, "I think girl, interrupted Barbie is a very pressing matter."

"What's
that?" Connor asked, zooming in on an insignia.

"That's
Sinister's mark. The red diamond!"
I said, "So, she's working with Sinister?"

"This coming from the guy who cheated on his girlfriend."Raiden
frowned.

Connor
looked mildly annoyed.

"Speechless now?"Raiden asked.

"Listen,
we have bigger things to deal with guys." I said, "What do we do when we find
Olivia?"

"If we can find her."Raiden said.

"Cyclops
put someone on it." Connor announced.

"Who?"
I asked.

"Remy Lebeau, at ya
service." Gambit smirked from the corner.

"How'd
you get in here?" Connor asked.

"I mad da way in when y'all was talking about you sleeping wit ya friend." Gambit said, handling his cards.

"Of course." I smirked, walking over and hugging him, "It's been so long."

"I was
beginning ta think ya was
just avoidin me." Gambit chuckled, "I found da place but I can't go wit ya."

"Why?" Raiden asked.

"He has
issues with Sinister." I said, "I heard about...we don't expect you to come."

"Danks." Gambit said cooly,
"Dere's some strange happenins
going on in dat place."

"Strange?"
I asked.

"Tings walking around down nere." Gambit said, "Experiments."

"Thanks
for the info." I said, "I'd say we need guns and knives. And oooh! I've been dying to try out the rocket launcher."

"Da Pane I knew didn't use da
weapons." Gambit said.

"The
Pane you knew wasn't lacking power." I smirked.

"Maybeh the Pane I knew watn't
lost." Gambit said.

I
stopped. We all did. I looked to Gambit and nodded, "Maybe." I said walking
away.

-

The
entrance of Sinister's hideout was unguarded. We
walked right in. Something was screaming in my head, telling me to run away. As
we entered the abandoned warehouse, I thought about this all.Why would Sinister align himself with Olivia?
What did he stand to gain? I stopped as I realized there was nothing in here.
Suddenly, there was a strange sound, like something flying quickly through the
air, but it was more than that! It was a bunch of little things flying through
the air and I ducked as the darts flew through the air! I looked over to see
Max crouched too.I looked over to see
Melissa, Raiden, and Connor lying lifeless on the
floor. Connor had three darts going vertically down his neck! Suddenly, they
disappeared in a weird light. Max and I looked at each other quietly until
there was a slight ding and we looked across the room to one of the columns,
which was now open and five guards formed a line, aiming their guns at us. They
wore blue jumpsuits with red diamonds on them. Max moved to my side as I stood.

The
middle guard turned his gun to the man on the right and shot his gun! Through
the cowl, I could see the astonishment on Max's face. I ignored it and quickly
slid the pistols out of my holsters, aiming them at the stunned guards and
shooting! Two of the guards were knocked down immediately. I threw my hands up,
causing the guns to combust, spraying bullets everywhere!

"Holy..."
Max said, looking at the scene, "This is you lacking power?"

"Before,
I'd have used them to clean the walls." I said, walking past them and to the
elevator. I surveyed the elevator. I could feel something at the bottom,
something big.

"Is the
elevator smart?" Max asked.

"No." I
said, raising my hand.

"Wait,
how are we supposed to get down there?" Max asked.

I
raised my hand again, this time there was an explosion as the elevator shot
down the shaft and exploded when it hit something wet!

"No.
You're still rash and impulsive. And you're willing to make you friend
expendable, even when you're trying to keep them close. It's a rare talent."
Sinister said, "One could say you're not meant for such friends."

"My
friends are never expendable." I frowned.

"You've
been replaced as the most valuable mutant in the world." Sinister said, "Or
maybe you're tied."

"I bet
you sweet talk all your subjects." I said, looking down the shaft.

"Descend
into your worst nightmares." Sinister laughed.

"Do you
trust me?" I asked Max.

"Oh
God, what are you about to do?" Max asked.

I
grabbed his hand and dove into the shaft! Max's manly screams could be heard
throughout the shaft! I enjoyed the freefall. There was a long way to the
bottom and we were approaching it very quickly!

"If you
have an idea, do it now!" Max shouted.

Just
seconds before we hit the top of the elevator, I tightened my grip on his hand
and we both stopped inches from the elevator!

"Oh my Gosh!" Max said, relieved, "Did you know you can fly again? That you can make me fly?"

"I'm
not flying...I'm levitating." I sighed, "And no, I didn't know I could make you
do it too."

"You what?!" Max asked angrily.

Just as
he finished that, we both continued to the top of the elevator! I quickly
opened the top of the elevator and we dropped into it.

"Stand
back." Max said walking over and placing an explosive device on the door. There
was only ten seconds. I looked at him and he looked at me. I grabbed him and
levitated out of the elevator just in time to avoid the explosion!

"A little heads-up next time!" I frowned.

"Ditto." Max smiled.

We both looked down to see that the elevator was sinking into the water.

"How
far down does that go?" Max asked.

"I
don't know, but why's it under the elevator?" I asked.

"Insurance." Max said, "Look, the door is open."

I
levitated us into the opening and looked around at the sterile laboratory. The
lab had to be about three football fields with slabs and tubes everywhere.
Despite its size, it was very well maintained. Max immediately began looking
for clues while I looked at all the experiments.
There were halfway human looking experiments and unfinished ones. I could feel
them. I instantly knew that they were me. Failed me. I
found myself aiming at the glass.

I bent
down and picked up the gun, shooting wildly at all the glass tubes! The water
and everything else fell to the floor as did the bodies! I raised my hand,
causing as many of the body as I could to blow to pieces!

I snatched
away and walked forward to slabs. I looked at the dried up bodies on the table
and realized that these people weren't me. I felt pity for the poor souls that
lay on this table. Before my eyes, the bodies began to move. I took a few steps
back, right into Max, who put his hand over my mouth. We watched in horror as
every dead thing slowly got to its feet.

"Stand
back." I said aiming for them, "I kind of figured this would happen."

The zombies began walking towards us and Max
readied himself for battle. I looked at the guns. I never needed the guns
before. And I was just as clueless then. Moreso. Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of the fact that I
am a weapon. I'm the weapon. I was
trained for this. I holstered the guns and pulled out my infamous knives.

"No
gun?" Max asked.

"I'm
not a gun guy." I said running into battle. I used my levitation power to flip
over a zombie, onto one of the slabs and sliced a zombie's head off! I spun
around and flipped off the slab, stabbing forward, catching two zombies and
sliding the knives upward, slicing them in half. I looked back to see Max break
from his fighting to stick an explosive on a zombie and kick it back into a
group, causing an explosion of body parts! There were more coming
for us and I looked to the end of the room and saw a door, "Head for the door!"
I said.

"How?!"
Max shouted.

I concentrated on the group of zombified things
standing in our way and closed my eyes, pushing my hand forward, "Go!" I
shouted as the zombified creations parted. Max nodded
and swept through the new path to the elevator. When he had gotten to the
elevator, my hands dropped and my feet began to move as quickly as they could
while my hands grabbed my knives. The knives went out at my side and I sliced
through them as I was running! I was little over halfway there when the zombies
began to close in! Max threw his hand out, causing an explosive to land on the
floor behind some zombies. A zombie grabbed Max's hand and chomped down on it!
The explosion blew the zombies off their feet and Max extended a staff and
dropped the zombie! I ran to the elevator and we both quickly dodged inside. I
looked at his hand, which looked like it was becoming infected already. There
was a loud thump and both of looked to the other side of the room! It looked
big and hairy, like a giant wolf, but it had a different kind of fur. It stood
on end. And it loped on two feet. It tossed zombies away trying to get to us. I
stood quickly and slammed my hand against the button to close the door and
sighed with relief. The door bent inward and banging could be heard as I pushed
the button to go lower into the facility. I hoped we wouldn't be walking
further into a trap, but I was smart enough to assume we would be.

-

Connor
awoke with a start. The last thing he could remember was entering the facility.
He reached up and felt his neck to feel three wounds going down vertically. He
looked over to see Raiden laying face down on the
cold floor. He rushed to her and turned her over to see that she was snoring.
He smiled. That's his Raiden. It was then that he
noticed that there were gauntlets on his hand. The same power-stealing
gauntlets he'd seen before. It didn't take a scientist to figure out that
Sinister had finally caught them. But why was he keeping them? It was then that
he noticed Melissa huddled in the corner. He gently laid Raiden
down on the ground and hobbled over to Melissa. She was awake on the ground and
raised her head to acknowledge him.

"Are you okay?" Connor asked.

Melissa
looked around as she stood, "Yeah, is Raiden alright?"
she asked.

"Out cold." Connor said, "Do you know what happened to Max and Pane?"

Melissa
shook her head.

"Max
Pane...I should quip more." Connor smiled.

"Ugh!" Raiden said causing them to turn to her, "Get a room."

"What?"
Connor asked.

"I wake
up and you're checking on her?" Raiden said angrily
as she stood, "This is just great. I think I'm going to..."

"It
wasn't like that." Melissa frowned, "He checked on you first."

Raiden
looked at her angrily.

"It's
true. You were snoring and so I let you go and checked on Mel." Connor said,
"It's all quite innocent."

Raiden
looked at them silently, then to the door, "How do we get out of here?" she
asked, noticing the gauntlets.

"Not
sure." Connor said, "We're virtually powerless."

"Virtually?" Melissa asked.

"We're
still human beings. The most resilient animals on Earth."
Connor said, "We just need to get these gauntlets off."

"How do
we do that?" Raiden asked.

"You
don't." Miss Sinister's voice said as she peered
through the eye slits in the door, "You wait for your leader."

As we
stepped out of the elevator, I noticed that at the sides of the long walkway
there were glass windows. Outside the glass was water. Lots
of water. I could swim but we were underground and there seemed to be a
shortage of air in the room. I choked as we entered the room. Max kept asking
if I was alright, but I couldn't answer. There was a steel door at the end of
the room but I couldn't really think about it much. I wasn't afraid of water,
but in this closed in space, I was. There was too much water and there was
something moving in the water.

"You've
found my pets." Miss Sinister's voice echoed.

"Pets?"
I asked.

Max
doubled over in pain.

"Your
friend's been infected...doesn't have long." Miss Sinister said, "I do have a
cure...but you'll have to come and give me a kiss."

"Are
you okay?" I asked.

"We
need to get to her." Max frowned.

"I
don't think we're alone." I frowned, looking to the glass before looking down
to Max, "Did I mention that this water is freaking me out."

"How do
you feel about sharks?" Max asked.

I
looked to the window in time to see a gigantic shark swimming right for the
glass! I grabbed Max and bolted across the room, barely missing the onslaught
of water just behind us. We slammed the giant door shut and spun a wheel to
lock the door in. There was pounding on the door that rang throughout the small
room we were in. It was more of a hallway, leading only to one room. Max
groaned as his are visibly pulsated. I walked over and surveyed the wound. I
told him to hold on until we moved to the next room. Once we entered the next
room, I noticed that this was a much more lived-in
room. Very posh. It was filled with living items.
There was an empty part to the room on either side of a throne. Miss Sinister
sat on the throne, waiting for us. There was a lab set-up next to living
quarters. Miss Sinister smiled to us as Max and I closed the distance between
us.

"You're
not human." I frowned, "I want my son and a cure for my friend."

"I
promised you," She said, tossing me a needle, "There it is."

"Also,
where are my friends?" I asked.

"We're
here." Connor said as he, Melissa, and Raiden came
from behind the throne.

"Took long enough." Miss Sinister chuckled, "Is this the part where we
have a very climatic battle?"

"Well...yeah."
I said slowly.

Miss
Sinister pressed a button, "Did I forget to tell you that I did some digging."
She said.

Something
rose from the ground between us. I just knew it would be my son, but what came
up disgusted when a slab with Richard rose up from the floor.

"He
fought back valiantly. My guards got a little rough." Miss Sinister said,
"Brain dead. Luckily, I kept him alive via technology, but his worth has come
to an end." She said, pressing another button. The machines came to a stop at
the touch of the buttons.

"Oh God." I said, my legs going numb. I fell from my feet and grabbed the
slab. It was the only thing holding me there. I could never marry him because
of exactly this. He would die like this. The tears rushed me and the sobbing
was instant. He and I not being together was one thing, but him
being dead is another thing entirely. The team rushed into action, fighting off
Miss Sinister. I couldn't breathe. He wasn't there. I had seen death, lots of
death, but this was by far the worse! This was the closest and most unexpected
death in my life. This wasn't a death, this was so much more. This was an
attack on my life. This was personal and one thing Sinister wasn't is personal.
Someone else is behind this...someone else is attacking me from all sides. The
fighting went on a few minutes and the first things I actually saw were Connor
and Max sailing over my head!

I
walked over to Max and kneeled to him, "Take Richard." I said slowly.

"What
about..."

"Please."
I said, standing and walked over to see Sinister lay out Melissa and Raiden.

"I
chose not to save him." Sinister smirked, "There's a lot that's been left
unsaid."

"What
are you talking about?" I asked.

"One of
your friends is not who they say they are." Sinister smiled. Her smile was
devious.

I
looked back at them. Raiden was helping Melissa to
her feet while Connor stood just behind me. Max had Richard's body a few feet
away.

"That's
right. One of them has betrayed you." Sinister said, pointing to Max,
"Someone's been bankrolling my experiments."

Max
looked just as shocked as we all did, "That's not true! I..."

"The Milbury Foundation." Miss Sinister said quickly.

Max
looked as if he was realizing something.

"Where
is my son?" I asked.

"We
have a special destiny for him." Sinister said.

"We?"
Connor asked.

"Her and Apocalypse." I replied.

"And the Clan Akkaba." Max said, "His descendants...your
relatives."

"Apocalypse
has been reborn." Miss Sinister said triumphantly, "It is in motion."

"Looks
like I'm going to have to stop it." I said angrily, "I was so hoping for a
quiet month alone."

"The
wit...I've been warned about that biting wit." Miss Sinister said.

"We
want the child." Max frowned.

"I'm
sorry, but the child is ours." Miss Sinister smiled, "I offer you a present...the
opportunity to abandon this goal, to leave with a life."

I
looked back to Max and Richard's body, "You took that life from me." I said, looking back to her.

"The
day you let go of all human attachments is the day you become my most
successful experiment." Miss Sinister smirked. She took out a device and
clicked a button. There was a huge explosion behind us! Sinister smirked again,
"Ta-ta!" She said,
teleporting away.

There
was splashing behind us as we came closer together. It was rushing down the
hallway! It damn near broke the door on first contact.

"The shark!" Max shouted.

"Everybody hold hands." Raiden said quickly.

We all
gathered together and I reluctantly took Max's hand. He looked hurt by my
reluctance. The whole wall buckled under the weight of the water and the
gigantic shark busting through it! The water splashed against my face as we
disappeared just as the shark's teeth were coming after us. We crashed to the
floor in a heap! We were tired, wet and had major boo-boos. Nothing was
accomplished and it didn't feel like a win. We'd shut down one of his labs but
we had lost Richard and Miss Sinister was still out there. I coughed the dirty
water onto the floor and looked over to Max. He was trying to get his balance
back too. Raiden lay on her back, blood running down
the side of her face from her nose. Connor was at her side, trying to calm her
down. Melissa watched on in horror.

-

"How is
Raiden?" I asked standing at Connor's door. Raiden was inside, reeling from the effects of her
teleporting us out of Sinister's lair. Melissa had
decided to catch up on her super-villains. Max was waiting in the office.

"You
can't be a part of this team anymore." I said sadly, "I talked to Scott and he
agrees."

Max
nodded, "So, this is how you get rid of the rebound guy?" he asked.

"No!
Don't you dare turn this into that! You funded Sinister! You helped him create
me. That alternate universe was him remaking me...in this dimension, though,
he's expanding. And you helped! Whether you knew or not, you might have just
screwed us all."

"I'm
going to fix this." Max said.

"And
when you do, you're welcomed back...until then." I said, looking down at the
floor. Max didn't say anything else. He left me alone in the quiet. I felt as
if I were about to explode! Things began flying off the desks and walls and I
grabbed a crystal ball and threw it at the wall! I knocked everything in front
of me off the desk and sunk down beside it, staring at the walls. It happened.
This really just happened.